Tattoos on a Ladybug
by UnhappyEchidna
Summary: She hadn't meant to stare. Really she hadn't. It just sort of, happened. Ruby goes to her favorite place in Vale to relax, not knowing who she might meet.


**Quick note before you start, italicized text for the most part means Ruby is thinking it, other than a few spots were its used for emphasis. Actual author's note at end of story.**

Ruby stepped off the bus and positioned her bag on her shoulder, the bus pulling away behind her. She straightened out her baggy and crimson hoodie, and adjusted her black skinny jeans before giving herself a slight nod in satisfaction. Depositing her headphones over her ears, she started down the sidewalk, humming along to the song.

She arrived shortly in front of her favorite place throughout all of vale, _The Mad Hatter. _It was a hole in the wall, mom and pop establishment that was primarily a cafe, but had a small selection of books in the back that people were welcome to read and, if you asked nice enough, check out.

Ruby pushed open the door, immediately getting a whiff of the sweet aroma that scented the shop. A smile instantly broke out on her lips as she took a deep breath, getting a lung full of the pleasing smell. She looked around the shop, seeing only a few customers in the back by the books. Walking up to the counter, she waved at the girl behind the till, though the girl seemed to not be paying attention. She walked up and leaned on the counter, she saw the girl was nervously looking around for something.

"Hey Velvet, you lose something?" At Ruby's first words, the girl jumped, giving Ruby a slight chuckle.

Ever since Ruby had started coming here, Velvet had been the cashier and the two had gotten to know each other. To her, Velvet had always seemed panicked, and at first Ruby had worried about her, but When she had finally mustered up the corsage to ask the girl if she was ok, which was a big feat for her, she had found out that the nervous girl was just excessively clumsy, and she was just trying her hardest not to mess things up, to some prevail. Velvet had told her about how in her first week on the job, she had been late all but one day because she had forgotten something or another in her house and she had to go back and get it, and her first day had been the worst. She had been so nervous that she had accidentally locked all of her stuff in her car and was forced to run all the way to work. _It was scary,_ Ruby remembered the clumsy girl saying, _the boss said she'd have my head if i was ever that late again._

Ruby looked up at her jittery friend, who's eyes were clamped shut and she had her hands covering the back of her neck.

"Sorry Velv" Ruby apologised, "I didn't mean to frighten you." The girl slowly unclenched her eyes one by one, and removed her hands from her neck. She looked up at the redhead, and gave a slight smile.

"Its ok, I just wasn't paying attention." The brown haired girl's head sunk. "Yea, I lost my name badge again... I was sure I had it when I started my shift an hour ago, but I cant find it."

Ruby was almost certain she saw the girls eyes start to glisten with tears.

"Isn't that the fourth one this month?" Ruby asked. The girl noded solemnly. Ruby looked around the desk and moved things, before finally picking up a stack of cups. "umm, Velvet?"

"Yea?" the girl responded half heartedly, not picking up her head to look at what the redhead was pointing at.

"I found your name tag." The girl's head shot up, looking at her in awe.

"Really!? Were?!"

"Under the cups." Ruby pointed the cups out and handed the nametag back to the now excited girl.

"Thank you so much Ruby!" The redhead smiled at the girl's excitement and gave the girl a thumbs up.

"No problem!" She watched as the Velvet struggled to put her name tag on, pricking herself multiple times in the process. When she finally got it, she looked up at Ruby with a smile on her face.

"So what can I getcha?" Velvet asked her, her confidence returning. "The usual?"

"Yes please." Ruby responded, returning a smile of her own.

"Ok, just give me a second." Ruby watched as the brown haired girl filled in the order on the machine, and when she was done, the redhead swiped her card. "I'll let you know when it's ready" came from behind as Ruby walked away.

It wasn't long until Ruby had her drink and was sitting at one of the larger tables, relaxing and enjoying her day. In this shop, her own little corner of heaven, with her favorite drink, she felt as if she could just shrink away, all of her worries and problems going right over her head.

After relaxing for a while, she brought her cup up to her mouth to find it empty. She got up and stretched, then started towards the counter to get a refill. As she passed by a row of bookshelves, she heard the soft hum of a voice singing, the tune quietly echoing through the shelves. She got a refill for her drink, and as she walked by again, her curiosity got the best of her. Instead of returning to her comfy, warm seat, she walked down the passageway following the quiet melody, drink in hand.

As she stumbled to the end of the aisle, the almost hypnotic voice drawing her in, Ruby wondered if this is what the sailors in greek mythology felt like when hearing the sirens sing. She turned the corner and almost fell over the source of the music.

The three adjacent bookshelves formed a small sitting space that contained a few sparsely placed beanbag chairs. Sitting in one of the chairs reading a book was a girl with long, raven colored hair. She was wearing a purple and black striped spaghetti strap top with black jean pants, and on top of her head was a black beanie. She had head phones over top of the her head, play what Ruby assumed was the song the girl was humming along to. Because the singer was sitting with her back to the entrance, she couldn't see much of the dark haired girl. Ruby was normally not a very sociable person, but with the relative mysteriousness, along with her almost angelic singing voice, the redhead felt like she needed more of the girl. Taking a deep breath, she walked through the passageway made by the bookshelves, and as soon as she had stepped into the girls vision, the singing stopped. The redhead sat directly across from her, and after finding a comfortable position in her own beanbag chair with her drink off to the side, she picked her head up to get her first good look at the misterious girl.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the artwork decorating almost all of the girl's visible skin, save for her face. Starting at the base of her neck, tendrils of interweaving vines ran down her upper chest and onto her arms. They continued down to her wrists were they tapered off to look like they were growing- no, more like creeping, onto her hands. Throughout the vines were intricate flowers of all shapes and sizes, some resembling various images. Ruby could just make out what she thought was a heart shaped rose peeking above the top of the girls shirt line. After studying the artwork for sometime, her eyes drifted up to the girls face.

Wow was the first word she could think of to describe the girls face. She stood in awe, her beauty stunning her. The raven girls face was thin and decently pale, making a great contrast to her dark, silky looking hair. She had a few abnormal piercings, including black snake bites on her lower lip, and a septum piercing were the two ends hung just below her nose. But what made Ruby suck in her breath, what she was drawn to the most, was the girl's bright, amber eyes. Ruby herself ha abnormal Silver eyes, but she never thought them that different from anyone else's. This girls eyes, however, seemed alien to her, and she couldn't get enough of them. Her eyes were intoxicating, and when she looked into them, she couldn't manage to make herself pull away. The golden orbs seemed to draw her in and engulf her, making her heart beat so fast and hard, she could hear its rapid thumping in her ears and only hoped the black haired beauty couldn't hear it too. If this is the feeling she got when she looked at the girl without her gaze being returned, Ruby wished the girl would look up.

And Ruby got what she wished for.

The yellow orbs flicked up and for a second, their eyes were locked. Ruby wasn't sure if her heart had stopped, or was just beating so fast that she couldn't tell the difference. The amber eyes narrowed, and a voice snapped Ruby out of her trance, allowing her to release a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Can I help you?" the voice was smooth and silky just like the singing, even though now it sounded mildly aggressive.

"Uhhh.. I...singing...you...face..." Ruby tried voicing her reasoning, but with the raven haired girl staring her directly into her eyes, her brain was more mush than anything else. So instead of a formulated response, her mouth just blurted out any random bits of words that it could muster.

"Well then," the girl spoke, slightly agitated as she removed her headphones, "let's try a different question. Why have you been staring at me for the past fifteen minutes?" To that question, Ruby didn't have an answer, at least, not one she was willing to share. She hadn't meant to stare, really she hadn't. It just sort of, happened.

Ruby looked into her hands as she twiddled her thumbs, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't kill her from embarrassment, but when no help came from her slowly solidifying brain, she just started spitting everything that came in, out .

" I was getting a refill and I walked by and I was like 'Hey that sounds nice' and when I walked by again, I went to go check it out cause I was curious, and you know the saying curiosity killed the cat, but I'm not a cat so that doesn't actually matter, so I walked down the shelves and found you here and-"

"Stop." the girl's smooth voice cut her off. She looked up, and all the progres her brain had made in recovery had been for not, because the amber eyes were there to meet hers, causing her brain to return right back to its putty like form.

"You're rambling, and answering neither of my questions. So you heard my singing," (Ruby noticed she looked slight upset when she said that) "and found me. Why did you stay here? and more importantly, why were you staring at me?"

"I umm…" Ruby shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"Is it because of my tattoos, or maybe my piercings?" Her voice was starting to climb in volume, and in anger. " You got a problem with them or-"

"No, i think they make you even more cute!" Ruby cried out, then immediately clamped her hands over her mouth, wishing the words never left. The redhead could feel her face burning, her skin now properly matching her name sake. Her hands moved to cover her face, trying to hide herself as much as possible. _Oh my God, why did I do that!_ she thought, _I can't just call random people cute! I mean she is beautiful…. but still!_ _what if she gets angry or- _ A voice, much softer than earlier, ripped her out of her thoughts.

"You... think _I'm_ cute?" Ruby looked up from her hands, and instead of meeting the hard glare from the yellow eyes that she expected, the raven haired girl was glancing around, looking more confused more than anything. Her eyes flicked up to Ruby's, and the redhead sheepishly nodded.

They sat there in complete silence for what felt like an eternity, as the redhead twiddled her thumbs. She fidgeted around in her chair, the awkward lack of noise eating away at her. She went to stand, but before she could get up, the girls voice cut through the quiet like a hot knife through butter.

"Hey." It came out barely a whisper, but in the silence, it was plenty loud. Ruby froze, every muscle in her body tense. "I'm... I'm sorry for yelling. Ca-can I get you something to make up for it?" The redhead looked up in surprise, not expecting such a calm response from the girl.

"Uhh...s-sure." A warm smile broke the singers lips and their eyes met again, making Ruby's heart melt for the third time. _She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take!_

The raven haired beauty stood and stretched her arms over her head, causing her shirt to ride up and give Ruby the perfect view of her taut stomach. _So not fair._ The girls abdomen was also covered in vines, the tendrils creeping to an end right before the top of her pants. Even with the ink, Ruby could easily count each bump of the girls six pack.

"Umm…" The redhead looked up, finding the raven haired girl's face a deep shade of red. Ruby quickly buried her face in her hands, trying to stop the scarlet hue from deepening any further. She had been caught, hazy eyed and a dumb grin on her face, ogling the girl's body. _Please just let me curl up. And die. Now she probably thinks I'm some sort of creep. Good job rubes, you had a shot, and you blew- _"Di-did you need help up?" The melodic voice broke her out of her thoughts as a hand slowly lowered into her view through her fingers.

"Uhh, sure." Reaching up slowly, Ruby gingerly took the offered hand, being careful not to hold on to tightly. _Oh my god, were holding hands!_ She began to stand, but underestimated the strength of the amber eyed girl, and pushed off to much, causing herself to fall forward. She closed her eyes, expecting to meet the hard ground, but instead she felt two slender arms wrap around her waist and catch her. They fell back, and the redhead landed softly on the taller girl with a soft "umph".

Ruby opened her eyes, and when she realized there positions, her mind went blank. Staring back at her was the girls two golden eyes, only inches away from her own silver ones. She could feel the girls breaths brushing against her neck, making shivers run down her spine. Their bodies were pressed together, and Ruby could feel the curvatures of the girls hips and chest beneath her. The redhead's eyes glanced down at the girls smooth lips, a mere inch or two from hers. Ruby started subconsciously leaning in, very much wanting to know if her lips felt as soft as they look.

Her lips ghosted over the girls, sending electric shocks of pleasure into her skull, waking her from her stupor. Ruby shot off her, scrambling to the other side of the room trying to get as far away from the fallen girl as possible. _OH MY GOD! I just KISSED her! Why did i do that?! My life is over! _Ruby knocked her head against the bookshelves, a slight pain shooting through her forehead. _Ow. I couldn't possibly mess this up any more… _"eep!" A hand touched her shoulder caused her to jump out of her own mind and into the bookshelf if front of her, nearly knocking the bookholder over. Ruby turned to find the singer standing red faced and arm outstretched, looking off to the side.

"That was quite a fall. Are-are you ok?" Ruby froze, trying to process the fact that the girl had not ran away or slapped her. Or both. She shook her head, trying to knock her brain back to some sort of working form.

"Yeah… Hehe.." the redhead chuckled nervously, twisting her hair in her fingers and kicking at the ground. "You caught me, so it was actually kind of nice." _Oh Crap!_ Ruby's head shot up, her mouth fumbling as she tried to get out her explanation. "I meant like it was a soft landing, not that I enjoyed landing on you! Not that I mean that it wasn't enjoyable! But its not like I wanted to land on you! I mean I prefer landing you over the floor!" A chuckle broke her out of her rant.

"Thank you… i'm glad I caught you too. Now how about that coffee?" Ruby blushed and noded, following the raven haired beauty, but before they had even left the small sitting area, the singer had stopped walking . "I never caught your name." Gold eyes turn around to meet her, a soft smile sketched on her lips like lips on a piece of art. "I'm Blake by the way. Blake Belladonna" _So its Blake. A beautiful name for an even more beautiful girl. And isn't belladonna another name for nightshade? _Ruby grinned. _If her eyes don't get me first..._

"My- my name is Ruby, Ruby Rose. Pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasures all mine." The raven haired girls smile started to fade, looking as if the redhead had kicked her in the stomach. Ruby didn't like that look. Sad didn't fit the girls perfect face. "Sorry about snapping at you earlier. I am just so used to being stared at, and judged, and… I was just sick of everyone hating me without knowing me! I come to this place because no one here bothers me, or cares that I have these tattoos and piercings. I thought you were going to ruin one of the few sanctuaries I had left…" The girl crossed her arms over her chest, trying to block some of the art. "I wish I had never gotten them..."

"Hey!" Ruby reached forward and pulled the girl into a hug, holding her tight in a warm embrace. "You are perfect just the way you are, and don't let anybody tell you differently! You got those for a reason right?" She felt the girl nod into her shoulder followed by a quiet sniffle. "Then why would you want them gone? The only opinion that matters is yours. Do what you want, not what other want you to do." Ruby shifted back , her hands gliding down Blakes smooth arms and coming to rest holding her hands. The redhead stared into the amber orbs, the skin around them slightly red. "You are awesome. Dont let anyone take that away from you." For a second, the raven haired girl didn't move, save for a slight quiver of the girls lip. Suddenly the taller girl yanked Ruby in and held her tight, tears staining her red jacket.

"Thank you! No ones ever thought of me as important or special! I-i-im always just the _freak_ who doesn't belong! Im always the creepy girl that has no friends! People think I'm horrible and call me names just because of some ink! What did i ever do to them?" Ruby rubbed the girls back, trying to comfort her.

"Hey now, its ok… you didnt do anything, they're just big mean jerks. You are just as important as anyone else. Here, lets sit down." Ruby directed them back to where Blake was sitting when the redhead had found her. They sat down against a bookshelf, Blakes head still tucked in Ruby's shoulder, the entire right side of her jacket dark with the raven girls tears. Blake cried into her shoulder for a long while, the entire time the redhead comforted her and whispered reassurances into Blake's ear. As the tears finally began to slow, the amber eyed girl lifted her head from Ruby's shoulder.

"R-ruby?" The red head tucked a stray strand of hair behind the raven girls ear, resting her hand on the girls shoulder.

"Hey there, you okay?"

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! It just was so pent up and-

"Blake its fine, everybody needs a shoulder to cry on every once in a while. I'm just glad I was able to be here when you needed it."

"Thank you so much." The raven hair girl hugged her once more, before rolling off to Ruby's right, her hand still intertwined with the redheads. They sat there for a few minutes in a comfortable silence, before Ruby started shivering. Blake's tears had soaked through most of the shoulder of her jacket, giving Ruby a slight chill. _Please don't notice..._ "Hey, are you ok?" _Thanks universe._ The redhead nodded, giving the girl a large smile.

"Yea, I'm just a bit cold from the damp area." Blake's hand slid away from her own leaving the space cold. A small frown broke her lips. _Boo..._

"You should take off your hoodie, that should help." Ruby pulled her hoodie over her head, leaving her in her plain black tee shirt with the small rose emblem over the left breast. She tossed the over garment to the side, and resumed her position with her arm back by her side, minus the other girls soft hand resting in hers. She let out a disappointed breath, rubbing her thumb over her fingers were the girls hand had rested. _I liked it better earlier..._ Getting lost in the thought from the repetitive motion, she started staring emptily at the bookshelf across from them.

She almost yelped when a smooth palm slid its way back into hers, the foreign fingers squeezing tight around her own. She turned, finding the raven haired girl blushing and nervously biting her lower lip. _Oh my god, so cute!_ Ruby smiled and squeezed the girls hand back, gently starting to rub the back of the girls hand. The girl visibly relaxed, letting out a gentle sigh, leaning back against the wall. Ruby scooted closer to the girl, placing their conjoined hands on her lap, studying the artwork trailing up the girls arm. before she could stop herself, a question escaped out of her mouth.

"Can you tell me about your tattoos?" _Why did i just ask that?! She is obviously sensitive abo-_

"Sure." Ruby looked up at Blake, a soft smile meeting her. The raven haired girl reached over with her spare hand and took the Ruby's wrist, guiding the redheads fingers over the ink on her arm. "I've always liked vines. The way they interlock, and twist together. The way they are beautiful, but dangerous. After… something happened when I was younger, I started drawing them a lot. I always thought vines would make me tougher, and when i was 15 I found someone who would do these for me, so i gave them my drawings and they copied them onto my skin on my arm. I got a job at the tattoo parlor shortly after, and I got the rest of them right after that." Ruby let Blake continue to make her hand trace the vines.

"Wait, did you say you drew these?" The golden eyed girl nodded slightly.

"Yea, that's why they're not that good…"

"No, these are great! Makes me want some." Blake chuckled.

"Well maybe one day I'll do some for you…"

"That would be awesome!" Ruby looked back down at the girls arm, guiding their hands over a tulip blooming on her forearm. "Did you draw the flowers too? Do they have a meaning?" Blake traced the flower with Ruby's finger quietly, the tips of her mouth curling up slightly when she finished.

"Yeah, I drew them. This one is the symbol of the man who gave me my first tattoo, and eventually, took me under his wing at the parlor. He disappeared a while ago, so I made this as a memorial for him." Blake guided their hands to another flower, a small lily on her shoulder. "This one was for my mother. I don't remember her much, but i remember at her funeral her casket had a bouquet of lilies on it, so I did it to remember her." Ruby's eyes drifted to the crimson flower over the girls heart, just barely peeking above the girls top.

"And the rose?" Ruby felt Blake release her hand, letting it return back to her side. The redhead looked up to find the yellow orbs staring intently into her eyes.

"Its reserved for the girl who wins my heart."

A particular word stuck out to Ruby, making a huge goofy grin spread across her face. _Girl…_

Blake yawned, Breaking their eye contact and snapping Ruby out of her trance.

"Sorry, I'm a little tired from earlier, I should probably get going." Ruby grabbed Blakes arm, stopping her from getting up.

"NO! I-i mean you could just take a nap here, I'm kind of tired as well…" she looked down, hiding her blush from the raven haired girl. A hand lightly pulled her head down, letting it rest on the raven girls shoulder, followed by Blake's head resting on her own.

"That sounds perfect." Ruby smiled, taking a deep breath and closed her eyes, listening to

Blake's gentle breathing until she slowly drifted off, dreaming of a certain gold eyed girl.

* * *

><p>Ruby yawned, stretching her arms out, making "baby dinosaur noises" (as yang called them).<p>

For a moment after sitting up, she had forgot where she was. When it came back, she looked around for Blake, but found no trace of the girl. Disappointed, Ruby began to sit up, but noticed black pen streaking up her arm. Turning her arm over she found a vines, identical vines to the ones that covered Blakes body, drawn on her forearm, with a deadly nightshade flower blooming from the center and a small ladybug crawling on the petals. Scrawled out on her palm in small, some what messy writing was a note, followed by a string of numbers.

"_Sorry for drawing on you. Got carried away. I really enjoyed meeting you! Call me?"_

Ruby smiled and pulled out her phone, typing in the numbers. The phone rang, and the redhead brought it up to her ear, collecting her things with her other hand. The phone clicked and a familiar smooth voice danced in her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Blake, its Ruby. Do you want to go out for lunch with me tomorrow?"

**A/N: Hey everyone, just wanted to let y'all know I'm still alive. With college and life and many other things on my plate, i cant write that often, but i do plan to continue and will finish the stories i have posted (not Nightmares and Fairy Tales) along with other fics i have ideas for, they will just be put out slowly. My "schedule" will prob be a chapter of seven deadly sinsters, followed by a one shot, then another chapter of sinsters, then another one shot and so on. this is not concrete, but just what i plan. Id like to thank TheRagingGamer for editing this for me, helps a ton! if any of y'all need an editor, you can contact him by PM. Also I'd like to thank Pyrrha in my RP(you know who you are) for helping me when i needed it. I know the romance may have moved a tad fast in this fic, but i wanted it to be the whole "love at first sight" thing so yes i know it moved fast. If y'all have any oher questions, PM me and ill try to get back to you as soon as i can. RWBY is owned my Monty Oum and RoosterTeeth, and i only thought of the story idea.**


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